»IN  MEMORIAM 
ALEXANDER  GOLDSTEIN 


£outf)   Hcafletg. 

NIL   114. 


Abraham  Lincoln 

ON 

War  and  Peace 

1860-  1864 


Edited  by  LAWRENCE  V.  ROTH. 


INTRODUCTION. 

These  letters  and   addresses   of  Abraham  Lincoln   relate 
Imainly  to  the  events  and  issues  of  the  American  Civil  War. 
Inion  and  slavery,  the  real  significance  of  the  Declaration  of 
[Independence,  the  purpose  of  the  war,  war-time  elections, 
emancipation,  labor  and  the  war,  women  and  the  war,  and 
the  question  of  compromise  and  peace,  are  some  of  the  sub 
jects  touched  upon.    The  same  or  similar  problems,  belong 
ing  not  .merely  to  America  but  to  the  whole  world,  are  con 
stantly  arising  during  the  great  war  of  the  twentieth  century. 
[Our  generation,  that  has  to  grapple  with  them  anew,  can  best 
[appreciate    the    wisdom,    humanity    and    statesmanship    of 
[Abraham  Lincoln. 

SLAVERY,  THE  GREAT  UNSETTLED  PROBLEM. 

Abstract  of  speech  at  Norwich,  Conn.,  March  9,  1860. 

WHETHER  we  will  or  not,  the  question  of  slavery  is  the 
[question,  the  all-absorbing  topic,  of  the  day.  It  is  true 
that  all  of  us — and  by  that  I  mean,  not  the  Republican  party 
[alone,  but  the  whole  American  people,  here  and  elsewhere — 
jail  of  us  wish  the  question  settled — wish  it  out  of  the  way. 

It  stands  in  the  way  and  prevents  the  adjustment  and  the 

773190 


giving  of  necessary  attention  to  other  questions  of  national 
housekeeping.  The  people  of  the  whole  nation  agree  that  this 
question  ought  to  be  settled,  and  yet  it  is  not  settled.  And 
the  reason  is  that  they  are  not  yet  agreed  how  it  shall  be 
settled. 

Again  and  again  it  has  been  fondly  hoped  that  it  was 
settled,  but  every  time  it  breaks  out  afresh  and  more  vio 
lently  than  ever.  It  was  settled,  our  fathers  hoped,  by  the 
Missouri  Compromise,  but  it  did  not  stay  settled.  Then  the 
compromise  of  1850  was  declared  to  be  a  full  and  final  settle 
ment  of  the  question.  The  two  great  parties,  each  in  national 
convention,  adopted  resolutions  declaring  that  the  settlement 
made  by  the  compromise  of  1850  was  a  finality — that  it 
'vyould.  last;  fovexrer.  Yet  how  long  before  it  was  unsettled 
•again?-'  iVforoke  out  again  in  1854,  and  blazed  higher  and 
-raged,  more ; furiously  than  ever  before,  and  the  agitation 
rha'S  -not  "tfestfed'  since. 

These  repeated  settlements  must  have  some  fault  about 
them.  There  must  be  some  inadequacy  in  their  very  nature 
to  the  purpose  for  which  they  were  designed.  We  can  only 
speculate  as  to  where  that  fault — that  inadequacy — is,  but 
we  may  perhaps  profit  by  past  experience. 

I  think  that  one  of  the  causes  of  these  repeated  failures 
is  that  our  best  and  greatest  men  have  greatly  underestimated 
the  size  of  this  question.  They  have  constantly  brought  for 
ward  small  cures  for  great  sores — plasters  too  small  to  cover 
the  wound.  This  is  one  reason  that  all  settlements  have 
proved  so  temporary,  so  evanescent. 

Look  at  the  magnitude  of  this  subject.  About  one-sixth 
of  the  whole  population  of  the  United  States  are  slaves.  The 
owners  of  the  slaves  consider  them  property.  The  effect  upon 
the  minds  of  the  owners  is  that  of  property,  and  nothing  else 
—it  induces  them  to  insist  upon  all  that  will  favorably  affect 
its  value  as  property,  to  demand  laws  and  institutions  and  a 
public  policy  that  shall  increase  and  secure  its  value,  and 
make  it  durable,  lasting,  and  universal.  The  effect  on  the 
minds  of  the  owners  is  to  persuade  them  that  there  is  no 
wrong  in  it. 

But  here  in  Connecticut  and  at  the  North  slavery  does 
not  exist,  and  we  see  it  through  no  such  medium.  To  us  it 
appears  natural  to  think  that  slaves  are  human  beings;  men, 
not  property;  that  some  of  the  things,  at  least,  stated  about 


men  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence  apply  to  them  as 
well  as  to  us.  We  think  slavery  a  great  moral  wrong;  and 
while  we  do  not  claim  the  right  to  touch  it  where  it  exists, 
we  wish  to  treat  it  as  a  wrong  in  the  Territories  where  our 
votes  will  reach  it.  Now  these  two  ideas,  the  property  idea 
that  slavery  is  right,  and  the  idea  that  it  is  wrong,  come 
into  collision,  and  do  actually  produce  that  irrepressible  con 
flict  which  Mr.  Seward  has  been  so  roundly  abused  for  men 
tioning.  The  two  ideas  conflict,  and  must  conflict. 

There  are  but  two  policies  in  regard  to  slavery  that  can  be 
at  all  maintained.  The  first,  based  upon  the  property  view 
that  slavery  is  right,  conforms  to  the  idea  throughout,  and 
demands  that  we  shall  do  everything  for  it  that  we  ought  to 
do  if  it  were  right.  The  other  policy  is  one  that  squares  with 
the  idea  that  slavery  is  wrong,  and  it  consists  in  doing  every 
thing  that  we  ought  to  do  if  it  is  wrong.  I  don't  mean  that 
we  ought  to  attack  it  where  it  exists.  To  me  it  seems  that 
if  wre  were  to  form  a  government  anew,  in  view  of  the  actual 
presence  of  slavery  we  should  find  it  necessary  to  frame 
just  such  a  government  as  our  fathers  did — giving  to  the 
slaveholder  the  entire  control  where  the  system  was  estab 
lished,  while  we  possessed  the  power  to  restrain  it  from 
going  outside  those  limits. 

Now  I  have  spoken  of  a  policy  based  upon  the  idea  that 
slavery  is  -wrong,  and  a  policy  based  upon  the  idea  that  it  is 
right.  But  an  effort  has  been  made  for  a  policy  that  shall 
treat  it  as  neither  right  nor  wrong.  Its  central  idea  is  in 
difference.  It  holds  that  it  makes  no  more  difference  to  me 
whether  the  Territories  become  free  or  slave  States  than 
whether  my  neighbor  stocks  his  farm  with  horned  cattle  or 
puts  it  into  tobacco.  All  recognize  this  policy,  the  plausible, 
sugar-coated  name  of  which  is  "popular  sovereignty." 

NO  COMPROMISE  ON   SLAVERY  EXTENSION. 

Private  letter  to  E.  B.  Washburne,  Springfield,  III., 
December  13,  1860* 

My  dear  Sir:  Your  long  letter  received.  Prevent,  as  far  as 
possible,  any  of  our  friends  from  demoralizing  themselves 
and  our  cause  by  entertaining  propositions  for  compromise 

*Written  during  the  "conciliation  conference"  at  Washington  that  tried 
to  prevent  the  irrepressible  conflict  at  the  eleventh  hour. 


of  any  sort  on  "slavery  extension."  There  is  no  possible 
compromise  upon  it  but  which  puts  us  under  again,  and 
leaves  all  our  work  to  do  over  again.  Whether  it  be  a  Mis 
souri  line  or  Eli  Thayer's  popular  sovereignty,  it  is  all  the 
same.  Let  either  be  done,  and  immediately  filibustering  and 
extending  slavery  recommences.  On  that  point  hold  firm,  as 
with  a  chain  of  steel. 

Yours   as  ever,  A.  LINCOLN. 


THE   SENTIMENT   OF   LIBERTY   HAS   HELD  THE   UNION    TOGETHER. 

Address  In  Independence  Hall,  Philadelphia,  February 
22,  1861. 

Mr.  Cuyler:  I  am  filled  with  deep  emotion  at  finding  my 
self  standing  in  this  place,  where  were  collected  together  the 
wisdom,  the  patriotism,  the  devotion  to  principle,  from  which 
sprang  the  institutions  under  which  we  live.  You  have  kindly 
suggested  to  me  that  in  my  hands  is  the  task  of  restoring 
peace  to  our  distracted  country.  I  can  say  in  return,  sir, 
that  all  the  political  sentiments  I  entertain  have  been  drawn, 
so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  draw  them,  from  the  sentiments 
which  originated  in  and  were  given  to  the  world  from  this 
hall.  I  have  never  had  a  feeling,  politically,  that  did  not 
spring  from  the  sentiments  embodied  in  the  Declaration  of 
Independence.  I  have  often  pondered  over  the  dangers  which 
were  incurred  by  the  men  who  assembled  here  and  framed 
and  adopted  that  Declaration.  I  have  pondered  over  the 
toils  that  were  endured  by  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the 
army  who  achieved  that  independence.  I  have  often  inquired 
of  myself  what  great  principle  or  idea  it  was  that  kept  this 
Confederacy  so  long  together.  It  was  not  the  mere  matter 
of  separation  of  the  colonies  from  the  motherland,  but  that 
sentiment  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence  which  gave 
liberty  not  alone  to  the  people  of  this  country,  but  hope  to 
all  the  world,  for  all  future  time.  It  was  that  which  gave 
promise  that  in  due  time  the  weights  would  be  lifted  from  the 
shoulders  of  all  men,  and  that  all  should  have  an  equal 
chance.  This  is  the  sentiment  embodied  in  the  Declaration 
of  Independence.  Now,  my  friends,  can  this  country  be 
saved  on  that  basis?  If  it  can,  I  will  consider  myself  one  of 


5 

the  happiest  men  in  the  world  if  I  can  help  to  save  it.  If 
it  cannot  be  saved  upon  that  principle,  it  will  be  truly  awful. 
But  if  this  country  cannot  be  saved  without  giving  up  that 
principle,  I  was  about  to  say  I  would  rather  be  assassinated 
on  this  spot  than  surrender  it.  Now,  in  my  view  of  the  pres 
ent  aspect  of  affairs,  there  is  no  need  of  bloodshed  and  war. 
There  is  no  necessity  for  it.  I  am  not  in  favor  of  such  a 
course;  and  I  may  say  in  advance  that  there  will  be  no 
bloodshed  unless  it  is  forced  upon  the  government.  The 
government  will  not  use  force,  unless  force  is  used  against  it. 
My  friends,  this  is  wholly  an  unprepared  speech.  I  did 
not  expect  to  be  called  on  to  say  a  word  when  I  came  here. 
I  supposed  I  was  merely  to  do  something  toward  raising  a 
flag.  I  may,  therefore,  have  said  something  indiscreet.  (Cries 
of  "No,  no.")  But  I  have  said  nothing  but  what  I  am  willing 
to  live  by,  and,  if  it  be  the  pleasure  of  Almighty  God,  to 
die  by. 

"MY    PARAMOUNT   OBJECT    IN    THIS    STRUGGLE    IS    TO    SAVE    THE 


Letter  to  Horace  Greeley  *  Executive  Mansion,  Washington, 

AugUSt  22,  1862. 

Dear  Sir:  I  have  just  read  yours  of  the  I9th  addressed  to 
myself  through  the  New  York  Tribune.  If  there  be  in  it  any 
statements  or  assumptions  of  fact  which  I  may  know  to  be 
erroneous,  I  do  not,  now  and  here,  controvert  them.  If  there 
be  in  it  any  inferences  which  I  may  believe  to  be  falsely 
drawn,  I  do  not,  now  and  here,  argue  against  them.  If  there 
be  perceptible  in  it  an  impatient  and  dictatorial  tone,  I  waive 
it  in  deference  to  an  old  friend  whose  heart  I  have  always 
supposed  to  be  right. 

As  to  the  policy  I  "seem  to  be  pursuing,"  as  you  say,  I 
have  not  meant  to  leave  any  one  in  doubt. 

I  would  save  the  Union.  I  would  save  it  the  shortest  way 
under  the  Constitution.  The  sooner  the  national  authority 
can  be  restored,  the  nearer  the  Union  will  be  "the  Union  as 
it  was."  If  there  be  those  who  would  not  save  the  Union 

*Reply  to  Horace  Greeley's  open  letter  to  Lincoln  published  in  the  New 
York  Tribune  of  August  20,  under  the  title,  "The  Prayer  of  Twenty 
Millions."  Greeley  and  other  radicals  believed  the  question  of  slavery  to 
be  the  only  issue  of  the  war. 


unless  they  could  at  the  same  time  save  slavery,  I  do  not 
agree  with  them.  If  there  be  those  who  would  not  save 
the  Union  unless  they  could  at  the  same  time  destroy  slavery, 
I  do  not  agree  with  them.  My  paramount  object  in  this 
struggle  is  to  save  the  Union,  and  is  not  either  to  save  or 
to  destroy  slavery.  If  I  could  save  the  Union  without  freeing 
any  slave,  I  would  do  it;  and  if  I  could  save  it  by  freeing 
all  the  slaves,  I  would  do  it;  and  if  I  could  save  it  by  free 
ing  some  and  leaving  others  alone,  I  would  also  do  that. 
What  I  do  about  slavery  and  the  colored  race,  I  do  because 
I  believe  it  helps  to  save  the  Union;  and  what  I  forbear,  I 
forbear  because  I  do  not  believe  it  would  help  to  save  the 
Union.  I  shall  do  less  whenever  I  shall  believe  what  I  am 
doing  hurts  the  cause,  and  I  shall  do  more  whenever  I  shall 
believe  doing  more  will  help  the  cause.  I  shall  try  to  correct 
errors  when  shown  to  be  errors,  and  I  shall  adopt  new  views 
so  fast  as  they  shall  appear  to  be  true  views. 

I  have  here  stated  my  purpose  according  to  my  view  of 
official  duty;  and  I  intend  no  modification  of  my  oft-ex 
pressed  personal  wish  that  all  men  everywhere  could  be 
free. 

Yours,  A.  LINCOLN. 

GOD    CANNOT    BE    FOR    AND    AGAINST. 

Meditation  on  the  divine  will,  September,  1862. 

The  will  of  God  prevails.  In  great  contests  each  party 
claims  to  act  in  accordance  with  the  will  of  God.  Both  may 
be,  and  one  must  be,  wrong.  God  cannot  be  for  and  against 
the  same  thing  at  the  same  time.  In  the  present  civil  war 
it  is  quite  possible  that  God's  purpose  is  something  different 
from  the  purpose  of  either  party;  and  yet  the  human  in 
strumentalities,  working  just  as  they  do,  are  of  the  best 
adaptation  to  effect  his  purpose.  I  am  almost  ready  to 
say  that  this  is  probably  true;  that  God  wills  this  contest, 
and  wills  that  it  shall  not  end  yet.  By  his  mere  great  power 
on  the  minds  of  the  now  contestants,  he  could  have  either 
saved  or  destroyed  the  Union  without  a  human  contest. 
Yet  the  contest  began.  And,  having  begun,  he  could  give 
the  final  victory  to  either  side  any  day.  Yet  the  contest 
proceeds, 


WANT   ONLY    MEN    WHOSE    HEARTS   ARE    IN    THE    STRUGGLE. 

Letter  to  General  Carl  Schurz,  Executive  Mansion,  Washing 
ton,  November  24,  1862. 

My  dear  Sir:  I  have  just  received  and  read  your  letter 
of  the  2Oth.  The  purport  of  it  is  that  we  lost  the  late 
elections  and  the  Administration  is  failing  because  the  war 
is  unsuccessful,  and  that  I  must  not  flatter  myself  that  I 
am  not  justly  to  blame  for  it.  I  certainly  know  that  if  the 
war  fails,  the  Administration  fails,  and  that  I  will  be  blamed 
for  it,  whether  I  deserve  it  or  not.  And  I  ought  to  be 
blamed  if  I  could  do  better.  You  think  I  could  do  better; 
therefore  you  blame  me  already.  I  think  I  could  not  do 
better;  therefore  I  blame  you  for  blaming  me.  I  under 
stand  you  now  to  be  willing  to  accept  the  help  of  men  who 
are  not  Republicans,  provided  they  have  "heart  in  it." 
Agreed.  I  want  no  others.  But  who  is  to  be  the  judge  of 
hearts,  or  of  "heart  in  it"?  If  I  must  discard  my  own  judg 
ment  and  take  yours,  I  must  also  take  that  of  others;  and  by 
the  time  I  should  reject  all  I  should  be  advised  to  reject, 
I  should  have  none  left,  Republicans  or  others— not  even 
yourself.  For  be  assured,  my  dear  sir,  there  are  men  who 
have  "heart  in  it"  that  think  you  are  performing  your  part 
as  poorly  as  you  think  I  am  performing  mine.  .  .  . 

Very  truly  your  friend,  A.  LINCOLN. 

THE  ENGLISH   WORKINGMEN    SUPPORT  THE  CAUSE   OF   FREEDOM. 

Executive  Mansion,  Washington,  January  19,  1863. 
To  the  Working-men  of  Manchester:  I  have  the  honor  to 
acknowledge  the  receipt  of  the  address  and  resolutions  which 
you  sent  me  on  the  eve  of  the  new  year.  When  I  came, 
on  the  4th  of  March,  1861,  through  a  free  and  constitutional 
election  to  preside  in  the  Government  of  the  United  States, 
the  country  was  found  at  the  verge  of  civil  war.  What 
ever  might  have  been  the  cause,  or  whosesoever  the  fault, 
one  duty,  paramount  to  all  others,  was  before  me,  namely, 
to  maintain  and  preserve  at  once  the  Constitution  and  the  in 
tegrity  of  the  Federal  Republic.  A  conscientious  purpose  to 
perform  this  duty  is  the  key  to  all  the  measures  of  adminis 
tration  which  have  been  and  to  all  which  will  hereafter  be 
pursued.  Under  our  frame  of  government  and  my  official 


8 

oath,  I  could  not  depart  from  this  purpose  if  I  would.  It 
is  not  always  in  the  power  of  governments  to  enlarge  or 
restrict  the  scope  of  moral  results  which  follow  the  policies 
that  they  may  deem  it  necessary  for  the  public  safety  from 
time  to  time  to  adopt. 

I  have  understood  well  that  the  duty  of  self-preservation 
rests  solely  with  the  American  people;  but  I  have  at  the 
same  time  been  aware  that  favor  or  disfavor  of  foreign 
nations  might  have  a  material  influence  in  enlarging  or 
prolonging  the  struggle  with  disloyal  men  in  which  the 
country  is  engaged.  A  fair  examination  of  history  has  served 
to  authorize  a  belief  that  the  past  actions  and  influences 
of  the  United  States  were  generally  regarded  as  having  been 
beneficial  toward  mankind.  I  have,  therefore,  reckoned 
upon  the  forbearance  of  nations.  Circumstances — to  some 
of  which  you  kindly  allude — induce  me  especially  to  expect 
that  if  justice  and  good  faith  should  be  practised  by  the 
United  States,  they  would  encounter  no  hostile  influence 
on  the  part  of  Great  Britain.  It  is  now  a  pleasant  duty  to 
acknowledge  the  demonstration  you  have  given  of  your 
desire  that  a  spirit  of  amity  and  peace  toward  this  country 
may  prevail  in  the  councils  of  your  Queen,  who  is  respected 
and  esteemed  in  your  own  country  only  more  than  she  is 
by  the  kindred  nation  which  has  its  home  on  this  side 
of  the  Atlantic. 

I  know  and  deeply  deplore  the  sufferings  which  the  work 
ing-men  at  Manchester,  and  in  all  Europe,  are  called  to 
endure  in  this  crisis.  It  has  been  often  and  studiously  rep 
resented  that  the  attempt  to  overthrow  this  government, 
which  was  built  upon  the  foundation  of  human  rights,  and 
to  substitute  for  it  one  which  should  rest  exclusively  on  the 
basis  of  human  slavery,  was  likely  to  obtain  the  favor 
of  Europe.  Through  the  action  of  our  disloyal  citizens, 
the  working-men  of  Europe  have  been  subjected  to  severe 
trials,  for  the  purpose  of  forcing  their  sanction  to  that 
attempt.  Under  the  circumstances,  I  cannot  but  regard 
your  decisive  utterances  upon  the  question  as  an  instance 
of  sublime  Christian  heroism  which  has  not  been  surpassed 
in  any  age  or  in  any  country.  It  is  indeed  an  energetic 
and  reinspiring  assurance  of  the  inherent  power  of  truth, 
and  of  the  ultimate  and  universal  triumph  of  justice,  hu- 
manitv  and  freedom.  I  do  not  doubt  that  the  sentiments 


you  have  expressed  will  be  sustained  by  your  great  nation; 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  I  have  no  hesitation  in  assuring 
you  that  they  will  excite  admiration,  esteem  and  the  most 
reciprocal  feelings  of  friendship  among  the  American  people. 
I  hail  this  interchange  of  sentiment,  therefore,  as  an  augury 
that  whatever  else  may  happen,  whatever  misfortune  may 
befall  your  country  or  my  own,  the  peace  and  friendship 
which  now  exist  between  the  two  nations  will  be,  as  it 
shall  be  my  desire  to  make  them,  perpetual. 

ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 


LINCOLN     ACKNOWLEDGES     GRANT  S     SUPERIOR     MILITARY 
JUDGMENT. 

Letter  to  General  Grant,  Executive  Mansion,  July  13,  1863. 

My  Dear  General:  I  do  not  remember  that  you  and 
I  ever  met  personally.  I  write  this  now  as  a  grateful 
acknowledgment  for  the  almost  inestimable  service  you 
have  done  the  country.  I  wish  to  say  a  word  further.  When 
you  first  reached  the  vicinity  of  Vicksburg,  I  thought  you 
should  do  what  you  finally  did — march  the  troops  across 
the  neck,  run  the  batteries  with  the  transports,  and  thus 
go  below;  and  I  never  had  any  faith,  except  a  general  hope 
that  you  knew  better  than  I,  that  the  Yazoo  Pass  expedi 
tion  and  the  like  could  succeed.  When  you  got  below  and 
took  Port  Gibson,  Grand  Gulf,  and  vicinity,  I  thought  you 
should  go  down  the  river  and  join  General  Banks,  and  when 
you  turned  northward,  east  of  the  Big  Black,  I  feared 
it  was  a  mistake.  I  now  wish  to  make  the  personal  ac 
knowledgment  that  you  were  right  and  I  was  wrong. 

Yours  very  truly,  A.  LINCOLN. 

HOW    THE     EMANCIPATION     PROCLAMATION     WAS     ISSUED. 

Account   related  to  F.  B.   Carpenter,  February   6,   1864* 

"It  had  got  to  be,"  said  he  [Lincoln],  in  midsummer,  1862. 
"Things  had  gone  on  from  bad  to  worse,  until  I  felt  that 
we  had  reached  the  end  of  our  rope  on  the  plan  of  opera- 

*Six  Months  at  the  White  House  with  Abraham  Lincoln,  by  F.  B.  Car 
penter.  New  York,  1866,  pp.  20-23. 


10 

tions  we  had  been  pursuing;  that  we  had  about  played  our 
last  card,  and  must  change  our  tactics,  or  lose  the  game. 
I  now  determined  upon  the  adoption  of  the  emancipation 
policy;  and  without  consultation  with,  or  the  knowledge 
of,  the  Cabinet,  I  prepared  the  original  draft  of  the  procla 
mation,  and,  after  much  anxious  thought,  called  a  Cabinet 
meeting  upon  the  subject.  [The  exact  date  was  July  22, 
1862.]  All  were  present  excepting  Mr.  Blair,  the  Post 
master-General,  who  was  absent  at  the  opening  of  the  dis 
cussion,  but  came  in  subsequently.  I  said  to  the  Cabinet 
that  I  had  resolved  upon  this  step,  and  had  not  called  them 
together  to  ask  their  advice,  but  to  lay  the  subject-matter 
of  a  proclamation  before  them,  suggestions  as  to  which 
would  be  in  order  after  they  had  heard  it  read.  Mr.  Love- 
joy  was  in  error  when  he  informed  you  that  it  excited  no 
comment  excepting  on  the  part  of  Secretary  Seward.  Vari 
ous  suggestions  were  offered.  Secretary  Chase  wished  the 
language  stronger  in  reference  to  the  arming  of  the  blacks. 
"Mr.  Blair,  after  he  came  in,  deprecated  the  policy  on 
the  ground  that  it  would  cost  the  administration  the  fall 
elections.  Nothing,  however,  was  offered  that  I  had  not 
already  fully  anticipated  and  settled  in  my  own  mind,  until 
Secretary  Seward  spoke.  He  said  in  substance,  'Mr.  Presi 
dent,  I  approve  of  the  proclamation,  but  I  question  the  ex 
pediency  of  its  issue  at  this  juncture.  The  depression  of 
the  public  mind,  consequent  upon  our  repeated  reverses, 
is  so  great  that  I  fear  the  effect  of  so  important  a  step. 
It  may  be  viewed  as  the  last  measure  of  an  exhausted  gov 
ernment,  a  cry  for  help;  the  government  stretching  forth 
its  hands  to  Ethiopia,  instead  of  Ethiopia  stretching  forth 
her  hands  to  the  government.'  His  idea,"  said  the  Presi 
dent,  "was  that  it  would  be  considered  our  last  shriek  on 
.the  retreat."  (This  was  his  precise  expression.)  "  'Now,'  con 
tinued  Mr.  Seward,  'while  I  approve  the  measure,  I  sug 
gest,  sir,  that  you  postpone  its  issue  until  you  can  give 
it  to  the  country  supported  by  military  success,  instead 
of  issuing  it,  as  would  be  the  case  now,  upon  the  greatest 
disasters  of  the  war.'  "  Mr.  Lincoln  continued:  "The  wis 
dom  of  the  view  of  the  Secretary  of  State  struck  me  with 
very  great  force.  It  was  an  aspect  of  the  case  that,  in 
all  my  thought  upon  the  subject,  I  had  entirely  overlooked. 
The  result  was  that  I  put  the  draft  of  the  proclamation 


' 


II 

aside,   as   you   do   your   sketch    for    a    picture,    waiting    for 
a  victory. 

"From  time  to  time  I  added  or  changed  a  line,  touching 
it  up  here  and  there,  anxiously  watching  the  progress  of 
events.  Well,  the  next  news  we  had  was  of  Pope's  disaster 
at  Bull  Run.  Things  looked  darker  than  ever.  Finally 
came  the  week  of  the  battle  of  Antietam.  I  determined 
to  wait  no  longer.  The  news  came,  I  think,  on  Wednesday, 
that  the  advantage  was  on  our  side.  I  was  then  staying 
at  the  Soldiers'  Home  (three  miles  out  of  Washington). 
Here  I  finished  writing  the  second  draft  of  the  preliminary 
proclamation;  came  up  on  Sunday;  called  the  Cabinet  to 
gether  to  hear  it  and  it  was  published  on  the  following 
Monday." 


Remarks   on  closing  a  sanitary   fair  in    Washington, 
March  18,  1864. 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  I  appear  to  say  but  a  word. 
This  extraordinary  war  in  which  we  are  engaged  falls 
heavily  upon  all  classes  of  people,  but  the  most  heavily 
upon  the  soldier.  For  it  has  been  said,  all  that  a  man 
hath  will  he  give  for  his  life;  and  while  all  contribute  of  their 
substance,  the  soldier  puts  his  life  at  stake,  and  often  yields 
it  up  in  his  country's  cause.  The  highest  merit,  then,  is  due 
to  the  soldier. 

In  this  extraordinary  war,  extraordinary  developments 
have  manifested  themselves,  such  as  have  not  been  seen 
in  former  wars;  and  amongst  these  manifestations  nothmg 
has  been  more  remarkable  than  these  fairs  for  the  reTTeTot 
suffering  soldiers  and  their  families.  And  the  chief  agents 
in  these  fairs  are  the  women  of  America. 

I  am  not  accustomed  to  the  use  of  language  of  eulogy; 
I  have  never  studied  the  art  of  paying  compliments  to 
women;  but  I  must  say,  that  if  all  that  has  been  said  by 
orators  and  poets  since  the  creation  of  the  world  in  praise 
of  women  were  applied  to  the  women  of  America,  it  would 
not  do  them  justice  for  their  conduct  during  this  war.  I 
will  close  by  saying,  God  bless  the  women  of  America. 


12 

LABOR   AND   THE   WAR. 

From  Lincoln's  letter  accepting  honorary  membership  in  the 
Workingmen's  Association  of  New  York,  March  21,  1864. 

None  are  so  deeply  interested  to  resist  the  present  re 
bellion  as  the  working  people.  Let  them  beware  of  preju 
dice,  working  division  and  hostility  among  themselves.  The 
most  notable  feature  of  a  disturbance  in  your  city  last  sum 
mer  was  the  hanging  of  some  working  people  by  other 
working  people.  It  should  never  be  so.  The  strongest 
bond  of  human  sympathy,  outside  of  the  family  relation, 
should  be  one  uniting  all  working  people,  of  all  nations, 
and  tongues,  and  kindreds.  Nor  should  this  lead  to  a 
war  upon  property,  or  the  owners  of  property.  Property 
is  the  fruit  of  labor;  property  is  desirable;  is  a  positive 
good  in  the  world.  That  some  should  be  rich  shows  that 
others  may  become  rich,  and  hence  is  just  encouragement 
to  industry  and  enterprise.  Let  not  him  who  is  houseless 
pull  down  the  house  of  another,  but  let  him  work  dili 
gently  and  build  one  for  himself,  thus  by  example  assur 
ing  that  his  own  shall  be  safe  from  violence  when  built. 

EMANCIPATION/  AND  COLORED  TROOPS. 
Letter  to  A.  G.  Hodges,  Executive  Mansion,  April  4,  1864. 

My  dear  Sir:  You  ask  me  to  put  in  writing  the  substance 
of  what  I  verbally  said  the  other  day  in  your  presence,  to 
Governor  Bramlette  and  Senator  Dixon.  It  was  about 
as  follows: 

"I  am  naturally  antislavery.  If  slavery  is  not  wrong, 
nothing  is  wrong.  I  cannot  remember  when  I  did  not  so 
think  and  feel,  and  yet  I  have  never  understood  that  the 
presidency  conferred  upon  me  an  unrestricted  right  to  act 
officially  upon  this  judgment  and  feeling.  It  was  in  the 
oath  I  took  that  I  would,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  pre 
serve,  protect,  and  defend  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  I  could  not  take  the  office  without  taking  the 
oath.  Nor  was  it  my  view  that  I  might  take  an  oath  to 
get  power,  and  break  the  oath  in  using  the  power.  I  under 
stood,  too,  that  in  ordinary  civil  administration  this  oath 
even  forbade  me  to  practically  indulge  my  primary  abstract 


13 

judgment  on  the  moral  question  of  slavery.  I  had  publicly 
declared  this  many  times,  and  in  many  ways.  And  I  aver 
that,  to  this  day,  I  have  done  no  official  act  in  mere  defer 
ence  to  my  abstract  judgment  and  feeling  on  slavery.  I 
did  understand,  however,  that  my  oath  to  preserve  the  Con 
stitution  to  the  best  of  my  ability  imposed  upon  me  the 
duty  of  preserving,  by  every  indispensable  means,  that 
government — that  nation,  of  which  that  Constitution  was 
the  organic  law.  Was  it  possible  to  lose  the  nation  and 
yet  preserve  the  Constitution?  By  general  law,  life  and 
limb  must  be  protected,  yet  often  a  limb  must  be  ampu 
tated  to  save  a  life;  but  a  life  is  never  wisely  given  to  save 
a  limb.  I  felt  that  measures  otherwise  unconstitutional 
might  become  lawful  by  becoming  indispensable  to  the  pres 
ervation  of  the  Constitution  through  the  preservation  of  the 
nation.  Right  or  wrong,  I  assumed  this  ground,  and  now 
avow  it.  I  could  not  feel  that,  to  the  best  of  my  ability, 
I  had  even  tried  to  preserve  the  Constitution,  if,  to  save 
slavery  or  any  minor  matter,  I  should  permit  the  wreck 
of  government,  country,  and  Constitution  all  together. 
When,  early  in  the  war,  General  Fremont  attempted  mili 
tary  emancipation,  I  forbade  it,  because  I  did  not  then 
think  it  an  indispensable  necessity.  When,  a  little  later, 
General  Cameron,  then  Secretary  of  War,  suggested  the 
arming  of  the  blacks,  I  objected  because  I  did  not  yet  think 
it  an  indispensable  necessity.  When,  still  later,  General 
Hunter  attempted  military  emancipation,  I  again  forbade 
it,  because  I  did  not  yet  think  the  indispensable  necessity 
had  come.  When  in  March  and  May  and  July,  1862,  I 
made  earnest  and  successive  appeals  to  the  border  States 
to  favor  compensated  emancipation,  I  believed  the  indis 
pensable  necessity  for  military  emancipation  and  arming 
the  blacks  would  come  unless  averted  by  that  measure. 
They  declined  the  proposition,  and  I  was,  in  my  best  judg 
ment,  driven  to  the  alternative  of  either  surrendering  the 
Union,  and  with  it  the  Constitution,  or  of  laying  strong 
hand  upon  the  colored  element.  I  chose  the  latter.  In 
choosing  it,  I  hoped  for  greater  gain  than  loss;  but  of  this, 
I  was  not  entirely  confident.  More  than  a  year  of  trial 
now  shows  no  loss  by  it  in  our  foreign  relations,  none  in 
our  home  popular  sentiment,  none  in  our  white  military 
force — no  loss  by  it  anyhow  or  anywhere.  On  the  con- 


14 

trary  it  shows  a  gain  of  quite  a  hundred  and  thirty  thousand 
soldiers,  seamen,  and  laborers.  These  are  palpable  facts, 
about  which,  as  facts,  there  can  be  no  caviling.  We  have 
the  men;  and  we  could  not  have  had  them  without  the 
measure. 

"And  now  let  any  Union  man  who  complains  of  the 
measure  test  himself  by  writing  down  in  one  line  that  he 
is  for  subduing  the  rebellion  by  force  of  arms;  and  in  the 
next,  that  he  is  for  taking  these  hundred  and  thirty  thousand 
men  from  the  Union  side,  and  placing  them  where  they 
would  be  but  for  the  measure  he  condemns.  If  he  cannot 
face  his  case  so  stated,  it  is  only  because  he  cannot  face 
the  truth." 

I  add  a  word  which  was  not  in  the  verbal  conversation. 
In  telling  this  tale  I  attempt  no  compliment  to  my  own 
sagacity.  I  claim  not  to  have  controlled  events,  but  confess 
plainly  that  events  have  controlled  me.  Now,  at  the  end  of 
three  years'  struggle,  the  nation's  condition  is  not  what  either 
party,  or  any  man,  devised  or  expected.  God  alone,  can 
claim  it.  Whither  it  is  tending  seems  plain.  If  God  now  wills 
the  removal  of  a  great  wrong,  and  wills  also  that  we  of  the 
North,  as  well  as  you  of  the  South,  shall  pay  fairly  for  our 
complicity  in  that  wrong,  impartial  history  will  find  therein 
new  cause  to  attest  and  revere  the  justice  and  goodness 
of  God. 

Yours  truly,  A.  LINCOLN. 

LETTER  TO  GENERAL  U.   S.  GRANT. 

Executive  Mansion,  April  30,  1864* 

Lieutenant-General  Grant:  Not  expecting  to  see  you 
again  before  the  spring  campaign  opens,  I  wish  to  express 
in  this  way  my  entire  satisfaction  with  what  you  have  done 
up  to  this  time,  so  far  as  I  understand  it.  The  particulars  of 
your  plans  I  neither  know  nor  seek  to  know.  You  are 
vigilant  and  self-reliant;  and,  pleased  with  this,  I  wish  not  to 
obtrude  any  constraints  or  restraints  upon  you.  While  I  am 
very  anxious  that  any  great  disaster  or  capture  of  our  men 
in  great  numbers  shall  be  avoided,  I  know  these  points  are 

•Lincoln  reflects  the  spirit  of  confidence  in  Grant.  He  was  given  the 
command  of  all  the  armies  of  the  North  in  March,  1864. 


'5 

less  likely  to  escape  your  attention  than  they  would  be  mine. 
If  there  is  anything  wanting  which  is  within  my  power  to 
give,  do  not  fail  to  let  me  know  it.  And  now,  with  a  brave 
army  and  a  just  cause,  may  God  sustain  you. 

Yours  very  truly,  A.  LINCOLN. 


From  speech  at  a  sanitary  fair  in  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  June 

16,  1864. 

War,  at  the  best,  is  terrible,  and  this  war  of  ours,  in 
its  magnitude  and  in  its  duration,  is  one  of  the  most 
terrible.  It  has  deranged  business,  totally  in  many  localities, 
and  partially  in  all  localities.  It  has  destroyed  property  and 
ruined  homes;  it  has  produced  a  national  debt  and  taxation 
unprecedented,  at  least  in  this  country;  it  has  carried  mourn 
ing  to  almost  every  home,  until  it  can  almost  be  said  that  the 
"heavens  are  hung  in  black." 

It  is  a  pertinent  question,  often  asked  in  the  mind  pri 
vately,  and  from  one  to  the  other,  when  is  the  war  to 
end?  Surely  I  feel  as  deep  an  interest  in  this  question  as 
any  other  can;  but  I  do  not  wish  to  name  a  day,  a  month, 
or  year,  when  it  is  to  end.  I  do  not  wish  to  run  any  risk 
of  seeing  the  time  come  without  our  being  ready  for  the 
end,  for  fear  of  disappointment  because  the  time  had  come 
and  not  the  end.  We  accepted  this  war  for  an  object, 
a  worthy  object,  and  the  war  will  end  when  that  object 
is  attained.  Under  God,  I  hope  it  never  will  end  until  that 
time.  Speaking  of  the  present  campaign,  General  Grant 
is  reported  to  have  said,  "I  am  going  through  on  this  line 
if  it  takes  all  summer."  This  war  has  taken  three  years; 
it  was  begun  or  accepted  upon  the  line  of  restoring  the 
national  authority  over  the  whole  national  domain,  and 
for  the  American  people,  as  far  as  my  knowledge  enables 
me  to  speak,  I  say  we  are  going  through  on  this  line  if 
it  takes  three  years  more. 

My  friends,  I  did  not  know  but  that  I  might  be  called 
upon  to  say  a  few  words  before  I  got  away  from  here, 
but  I  did  not  know  it  was  coming  just  here.  I  have  never 
been  in  the  habit  of  making  predictions  in  regard  to  the  war, 


i6 

but  I  am  almost  tempted  to  make  one.  If  I  were  to  hazard 
it,  it  is  this:  That  Grant  is  this  evening,  with  General 
Meade  and  General  Hancock,  and  the  brave  officers  and 
soldiers  with  him,  in  a  position  from  whence  he  will  never 
be  dislodged  until  Richmond  is  taken;  and  I  have  but  one 
single  proposition  to  put  now,  and  perhaps  I  can  best  put 
it  in  the  form  of  an  interrogative.  If  I  shall  discover  that 
General  Grant  and  the  noble  officers  and  men  under  him  can 
be  greatly  facilitated  in  their  work  by  a  sudden  pouring 
forward  of  men  and  assistance,  will  you  give  them  to  me? 
Are  you  ready  to  march?  (Cries  of  "Yes.")  Then  I  say, 
Stand  ready,  for  I  am  watching  for  the  chance.  I  thank 
you,  gentlemen. 

PEACE    PROPOSITIONS. 

Letter  to  Horace  Greeley,  Washington,  D.C.,  July  p,  1864.. 

Dear  Sir:  Your  letter  of  the  7th,  with  inclosures,  received. 

If  you  can  find  any  person,  anywhere,  professing  to 
have  any  proposition  of  Jefferson  Davis  in  writing,  for 
peace,  embracing  the  restoration  of  the  Union  and  abandon 
ment  of  slavery,  whatever  else  It  embraces,  say  to  him  he 
may  come  to  me  with  you;  and  that  if  he  really  brings 
such  proposition,  he  shall  at  the  least  have  safe  conduct  with 
the  paper  (and  without  publicity,  if  he  chooses)  to  the 
point  where  you  shall  have  met  him.  The  same  if  there 
be  two  or  more  persons.  Yours  truly,  A.  LINCOLN. 

TELEGRAM  TO  GENERAL  U.   S.  GRANT. 

Executive   Mansion,    Washington,   D.C.,   August    17,   1864, 

10.30  a.m. 

Lieutenant-General  Grant,  City  Point,  Fa.:  I  have  seen 
your  despatch  expressing  your  unwillingness  to  break  your 
hold  where  you  are.  Neither  am  I  willing.  Hold  on  with 
a  bulldog  grip,  and  chew  and  choke  as  much  as  possible. 

"NO     SMALL     MATTER     SHOULD     DIVERT     US     FROM     OUR     GREAT 

PURPOSE." 

Address  to  the  i6^.th  Ohio  Regiment,  August  18,  1864. 

Soldiers:  You  are  about  to  return  to  your  homes  and 
your  friends,  after  having,  as  I  learn,  performed  in  camp 


17 

a  comparatively  short  term  of  duty  in  this  great  contest. 
I  am  greatly  obliged  to  you,  and  to  all  who  have  come 
forward  at  the  call  of  their  country.  I  wish  it  might  be 
more  generally  and  universally  understood  what  the  country 
is  now  engaged  in.  We  have,  as  all  will  agree,  a  free  gov 
ernment,  where  every  man  has  a  right  to  be  equal  with 
every  other  man.  In  this  great  struggle,  this_  form  of  gov 
ernment  and  every  form  of  human  right  is  endangered 
if  our  enemies  succeed.  There  is  more  involved  in  this 
contest  than  is  realized  by  every  one.  There  is  involved  in 
this  struggle  the  question  whether  your  children  and  my 
children  shall  enjoy  the  privileges  we  have  enjoyed.  I  say 
this  in  order  to  impress  upon  you,  if  you  are  not  already 
so  impressed,  that  no  small  matter  should  divert  us  from 
our  great  purpose. 

There  may  be  some  inequalities  in  the  practical  appli 
cation  of  our  system.  It  is  fair  that  each  man  shall  pay 
taxes  in  exact  proportion  to  the  value  of  his  property; 
but  if  we  should  wait  before  collecting  a  tax,  to  adjust 
the  taxes  upon  each  man  in  exact  proportion  with  every 
other  man,  we  should  never  collect  any  tax  at  all.  There 
may  be  mistakes  made  sometimes;  things  may  be  done 
wrrong,  while  the  officers  of  the  government  do  all  they  can 
to  prevent  mistakes.  But  I  beg  of  you,  as  citizens  of  this 
great  republic,  not  to  let  your  minds  be  carried  off  from 
the  great  work  we  have  before  us.  This  struggle  is  too 
large  for  you  to  be  diverted  from  it  by  any  small  matter. 
When  you  return  to  your  homes,  rise  up  to  the  height  of 
a  generation  of  men  worthy  of  a  free  government,  and  we 
will  carry  out  the  great  work  we  have  commenced.  I  re 
turn  to  you  my  sincere  thanks,  soldiers,  for  the  honor  you 
have  done  me  this  afternoon. 


ELECTIONS    IN    TIME    OF    WAR. 

Response  to  a  serenade,  November  io}  1864.. 

It  has  long  been  a  grave  question  whether  any  govern 
ment  not  too  strong  for  the  liberties  of  its  people,  can  be 
strong  enough  to  maintain  its  existence  in  great  emergencies. 
On  this  point  the  present  rebellion  brought  our  republic 
to  a  severe  test,  and  a  presidential  election  occurring  in 


i8 

regular  course  during  the   rebellion,  added  not  a   little  to 
the  strain. 

If  the  loyal  people  united  were  put  to  the  utmost  of 
their  strength  by  the  rebellion,  must  they  not  fail  when 
divided  and  partially  paralyzed  by  a  political  war  among 
themselves?  But  the  election  was  a  necessity.  We  cannot 
have  free  government  without  elections;  and  if  the  re 
bellion  could  force  us  to  forego  or  postpone  a  national 
election,  it  might  fairly  claim  to  have  already  conquered 
and  ruined  us.  The  strife  of  the  election  is  but  human 
nature  practically  applied  to  the  facts  of  the  case.  What 
has  occurred  in  this  case  must  ever  recur  in  similar  cases. 
Human  nature  will  not  change.  In  any  future  great  national 
trial,  compared  with  the  men  of  this,  we  shall  have  as  weak 
and  as  strong,  as  silly  and  as  wise,  as  bad  and  as  good. 
Let  us,  therefore,  study  the  incidents  of  this  as  philosophy 
to  learn  wisdom  from,  and  none  of  them  as  wrongs  to 
be  revenged.  But  the  election,  along  with  its  incidental 
and  undesirable  strife,  has  done  good  too.  It  has  demon 
strated  that  a  people's  government  can  sustain  a  national 
election  in  the  midst  of  a  great  civil  war.  Until  now,  it 
has  not  been  known  to  the  world  that  this  was  a  possi 
bility.  It  shows,  also,  how  sound  and  how  strong  we  still 
are.  It  shows  that,  even  among  candidates  of  the  same 
party,  he  who  is  most  devoted  to  the  Union  and  most 
opposed  to  treason  can  receive  most  of  the  people's  votes. 
It  shows,  also,  to  the  extent  yet  known,  that  we  have  more 
men  now  than  we  had  when  the  war  began.  Gold  is  good 
in  its  place,  but  living,  brave,  patriotic  men  are  better 
than  gold. 

(  A'N'Oto5^  LETTER  TO   MRS.    BIXBY   OF    BOSTON. 

*  Executive  Mansion,  November  21,  1864.. 

Dear  Madam :  I  have  been  shown  in  the  files  of  the  War 
Department  a  statement  of  the  Adjutant-General  of  Massa 
chusetts  that  you  are  the  mother  of  five  sons  who  have 
died  gloriously  on  the  field  of  battle.  I  feel  how  weak  and 
fruitless  must  be  any  words  of  mine  which  should  attempt 
to  beguile  you  from  the  grief  of  a  loss  so  overwhelming. 
But  I  cannot  refrain  from  tendering  to  you  the  consolation 
that  may  be  found  in  the  thanks  of  the  Republic  they  died 


19 

to  save.  I  pray  that  our  heavenly  Father  may  assuage 
the  anguish  of  your  bereavement,  and  leave  you  only  the 
cherished  memory  of  the  loved  and  lost,  and  the  solemn 
pride  that  must  be  yours  to  have  laid  so  costly  a  sacrifice 
upon  the  altar  of  freedom. 

Y<>urs  very  sincerely  and  respectfully, 

ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 


OTHER  OLD  SOUTH  LEAFLETS  on  Abraham  Lincoln  are  as 
follows:  No.  n,  Lincoln's  Inaugurals,  Emancipation  Procla 
mation  and  Gettysburg  Address;  No.  85,  The  First  Lincoln 
and  Douglas  Debate,  1858,  and  Lincoln's  Farewell  Address 
at  Springfield,  1861;  No.  107,  Lincoln's  Cooper  Institute 
Address,  1860;  No.  189,  Lincoln's  First  Message  to  Con 
gress,  July  4,  1861;  No.  213,  Charles  de  Montalembert,  The 
Triumph  of  the  Union,  1865. 


The  best  edition  of  Lincoln's  works,  and  the  most  detailed 
biography,  .is  by  his  secretaries,  J.  G.  Nicolay  and  John  Hay. 
There  are  several  volumes  of  additional  letters  by  various 
editors.  Lord  Charnwood's  Life  of  Lincoln  (1916)  is  the 
best  brief  biography  of  Abraham  Lincoln  and  one  of  the  best 
biographies  of  any  American. 


THE  OLD  SOUTH  LEAFLETS  are  a  series  of  reprints  of  his 
torical  narratives,  speeches,  documents  and  other  writings 
relating  to  the  history  of  America,  and  of  Liberty.  They 
are  published  under  the  editorial  supervision  of  S.  E.  Mori- 
son,  Ph.D.,  by  THE  OLD  SOUTH  ASSOCIATION,  Old  South 
Meeting-house,  Boston,  Massachusetts,  where  they  may 
be  obtained  at  five  cents  the  copy,  four  dollars  the  hundred, 
or  in  bound  volumes,  twenty-five  numbers  in  each,  one 
dollar  and  a  half.  A  catalogue  of  the  series  will  be  for 
warded  upon  request. 


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